Tallon Griekspoor has reportedly turned a deaf ear to requests by the Dutch government to withdraw from a Russian exhibition event as he is set to feature at the controversial tournament alongside his girlfriend Anastasia Potapova.
The Northern Palmyra Trophies will be staged in St. Petersburg on November 29 and 30 and former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev is the biggest name in the field and he will be joined by fellow Russians Karen Khachanov, former top-10 star Mikhail Youzhny, Veronika Kudermetova, Diana Shnaider and Potapova.
Russian-born Alexander Bublik and Yulia Putintseva, who both play under the Kazakhstan flag, will also take part along with Griekspoor, the only player with no official links to Russia, but he has an unofficial connection as he is dating Potapova.
The tournament is funded by the state-owned energy giant Gazprom – which has been linked to funding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since 2022 – resulting in Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel urging Griekspoor to reconsider his decision.
“It is not forbidden to participate in tournaments in Russia, but I appeal to him not to do so where possible and to look at the moral aspects,” Van Weel said.
But the world No 25 – who was initially set to participate in the 2024 event before withdrawing – was unimpressed as he replied to a post on X asking “Don’t they have anything better to do?” before later deleting it.
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Despite Griekspoor’s stance, it is unlikely to affect his selection for the Netherlands’ Davis Cup squad in future with Dutch Tennis Association Technical Director Jacco Eltingh distancing itself from his decision.
“The tennis association itself does not send players or teams to Russia and follows the policy of the NOC (Netherlands’ National Olympic Committee) and the international tennis organisations,” he told AD.
“But a top tennis player is ultimately an independent entity that can make choices, if they are not in the national youth teams.”
Earlier in the week, former doubles world No 1 Rennae Stubbs questioned Medvedev’s decision to participate in the event saying on her podcast: “I am a little surprised about Medvedev, especially because he was invited last year and said no. I’m also surprised about Karen Khachanov. As far as I know…
“My Russian knowledge is not the most in-depth, he is from an ethnic minority group, like how the Safins and Dinara Safina are Tatars. And I’m not sure where that group stands with the Kremlin, but I believe they’re somewhat opposite politically. So I’m surprised.”